Today's workforce is no longer confined to an office space from 9 to 5, Monday through Friday. On the contrary, the workforce is increasingly mobile with a growing number of remote workers travelling from site to site in different locations around the world. According to a 2019 Global Workplace Analytics study, remote work has grown by 159% since 2005, with about 80% to 90% of the U.S. workforce saying they would like to telework at least part-time. This shift is also good for businesses, saving them an average of $11,000 per half-time telecommuter each year.
With more of the workforce moving away from a traditional office setting, collaboration tools will play an increasingly important role in keeping remote, distributed workforces connected and productive. An integral part of that connectivity is the transition to 5G, which will revolutionise mobile high-speed connections and the performance and capabilities of collaboration tools.
Staying Seamlessly Connected Outside the Office
5G will change the way the workforce interacts with the tools they use every day. Real time applications, such as voice and video, are sensitive to disruptions. An instable connection can result in jitter, latency, and packet loss that translate into obvious performance issues such as delays, echoes, and choppiness on a call.
Imagine starting a call through an application on a computer, then switching over to a phone to continue the conversation. This exchange requires a shift from a WiFi network to a cellular signal, and users will typically experience a minor interruption. Similarly, if someone walks into a hotel lobby area and transfers a conversation from their cellphone to their laptop using the public WiFi connection, another delay would occur while connecting to the new signal.
5G will prevent these disruptions by enabling users to stay on the same cellular network throughout the journey. Seamless transitions between devices removes the frustration for everyone on a call and offers a positive user experience – an increasingly critical need in a world where unified communications, collaboration tools, and cloud-based services are the norm rather than the exception.
Taking a Strategic Approach to 5G
5G technology is really fast. It’s so fast that a one-hour HBO episode can be downloaded in 3.6 seconds. Needless to say, this is a game changer for many industries that rely on the Internet of Things (IoT).
5G adoption will however come with its challenges. There will be barriers to wholesale adoption, largely because of the inherent cost and complexity of a 5G deployment. One hurdle is distance. 5G cells are expected to reach a mere 250 meters compared to the 150 km reach of 3G and 4G networks. Another challenge is 5G’s inability to penetrate concrete. These issues will require substantial technology investment in reliable grid cells and repeaters.
Ultimately, organisations will need to be strategic in how and where they plan to invest. The good news is there are a number of approaches that will help organisations minimise the risk and maximise the benefits of 5G adoption.
First, organisations can start preparing for the introduction of 5G by investing in a flexible network that can adapt to new collaboration tools that are accessible and easy to adopt, learn, and use. Having this infrastructure in place will ensure that a business can leverage the full potential of these tools when 5G is readily available.
Adopting a hybrid cloud infrastructure will add flexibility to a network and provide many advantages for collaborative work environments. The key advantage of cloud computing is it doesn't require a VPN to be accessed remotely. All that's required to access corporate data and applications such as email and CRM systems (which have traditionally been hosted on-premise and offer limited accessibility to external users) is internet access and login credentials.
Moving applications and services to the cloud enables collaboration like we have never seen before. With that, 5G will be instrumental in transforming the digital experience by allowing for deeper levels of collaboration and productivity.
